TULITA, N.W.T. — When Sister Celeste Goulet was nine years old, her dad died. She grew up a fat, lonely kid in Guelph, Ont., who was paradoxically good at sports. Badminton was her game.

When she was first attracted to religious life, Goulet went looking for an order that ran an orphanage. By the 1970s there weren’t many of those left. Some, mostly Polish Franciscans, the Felician Sisters, were the last women’s order in North America that still owned an orphanage.

Following is a pastoral letter from Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith, issued Sept. 14, 2011, feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

INTRODUCTION

Nothing More Beautiful: in service to the new evangelization in the Archdiocese of Edmonton

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107.1). In the Archdiocese of Edmonton we have much for which to be thankful. Without cease, God blesses us richly from the infinite depths of his “steadfast love.” His greatest gift is life in communion with his Son Jesus Christ by the agency of the Holy Spirit, who draws us together in the community of the Church.

Bit by bit, the third edition of the Roman Missal is being introduced in parishes throughout the English-speaking world.

From Canada to southern Africa to New Zealand, Catholics have seen parts of the new missal introduced at various times — most since January, but some earlier — so that by the first Sunday of Advent Nov. 27, the transition to a new set of prayers and liturgical music will be as seamless as possible for the faithful.

When the third edition of the English-language version of the Roman Missal is implemented at Advent, it will mark the continuing evolution of the eucharistic liturgy that began in the earliest days of the Church.

The most recent changes — which more closely reflect Liturgiam Authenticam (The Authentic Liturgy), the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments’ 2001 document on liturgical translations — are unlikely to be the last, liturgists agree.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John told us all about what Jesus said and did, but not one of them mentioned what he looked like.

The vaguely European-featured Jesus with a brown beard and hair was pretty much the standard for most of history, at least until Rembrandt van Rijn, the greatest painter, draftsman and printmaker of the Dutch Golden Age, came along.

OTTAWA — Dioceses across Canada are preparing parishes for the annual collection Sept. 25 for the needs of the Church in Canada, at a time many face financial strains.

The collection helps dioceses raise the money towards the annual contribution they owe the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) based on a per capita assessment of Catholics in their jurisdictions and funds the many activities of the conference.

Humility, said St. Francis de Sales, is such a powerful virtue that it "drives away Satan and keeps the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit safe within us."

This is a startling notion. When we need to drive out Satan, don't we normally turn to overtly religious sacramentals such as holy water and the sign of the cross? How could the exercise of a virtue, even one as important as humility, get rid of the devil?

As odd as it may seem, the Catholic Church is a hidden movement in history. A Church of more than a billion people cannot be hidden, can it? Yet, the media coverage of World Youth Day - not just last month's version in Spain, but consistently over the years - has curiously avoided the reason for such gatherings.

If two million people, mainly young, from around the world were to gather for any other reason than to give glory to Jesus Christ, it would naturally excite extensive and probing news coverage. It would be recognized that something major is afoot. However, the WYD media coverage largely focused on peripheral issues, such as the cost of the event and the relatively small number who protested against it.

FR. RON ROLHEISER, omi

See the wise and wicked ones, who feed upon life's sacred fire. That's a lyric from a song by Gordon Lightfoot that tries to interpret the struggle going on in the heart of Miguel de Cervantes' mythical hero, Don Quixote. Goodness separates him from the world, even as he understands that wickedness has the same source.

There's perplexing irony in this: Both the wise and wicked, saints and sinners, feed off the same, sacred source. The energy that fuels the dedicated selflessness of the saint who dies for the poor also fires the irresponsible acting-out of the movie star who proudly boasts of thousands of sexual conquests. Both feed off the same energy which, in the end, is sacred.

KATHLEEN GIFFIN

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 18, 2011

There are singular events in every person's life that serve as both watersheds and points of reference in the years that follow. One such event for me was the birth of my daughter Ange. On the day she was born she was diagnosed with both a congenital heart defect and Down Syndrome.

My response, in the succeeding days and weeks, exposed the best and the worst in me. The best was that I did everything that I could to make sure that she was loved, nurtured and received the best medical care and early intervention. The worst was what I thought and felt about this event that had "happened to me."